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Saturday, December 13, 2014

Kuroshitsuji (Manga)

I should be studying for my finals but instead, I will make this one quick post.

Favorite picture of Ciel Phantomhive

I just read
Kuroshitsuji and my, oh my, what a beautiful manga. I never knew what a great manga it was! It had everything I desire in stories; strong stable unique characters, a great focused plot, dark ambiance, anguish, tragic pasts and continuous mental and physical suffering of the main/ favorite character. Yet, some light random humorous moments to lift the spirits. It also had glorious drawings, which is a bonus. Something else I loved was it was unpredictable, it had NO CLICHES; there were several surprises here and there which added to the thrill of it all. All these thoughts ran through my man as I was reading the manga, "This person got stabbed? that person is seriously ill, that person can actually kick ass?! I knew that person was the murderer all along, but wait...what's that?!" and finally "How will they get out of this one now?!"

The more they did that pose, the funnier it got.

For those who never heard of Kuroshitsuji, AKA Black Butler. It is a story that revolves around a child; Ciel, of a wealthy, prestigious family of England; The Phanomhive, in the 18th century. This child's family was killed at the age of ten and then he was kidnapped for a month by some nobles in which he was tortured and starved. As a last attempt for help, he unconsciously summoned a demon that night and to gain the demon's powers he made a contract with him. Ciel; the earl of England and the Queen's watch dog, traded his vengeful soul in return for power so that he can take revenge on the people who were behind this tragedy. The demon became "one hell of a butler" as a disguise and mean to be at his master's side and aid until the day he gets to devour his soul.

The readers/ watchers already know this wont end well, and we already know Ciel is not exactly "the good guy"...or "the villain". I suppose the little anti-hero is willing to do anything for revenge. Huh, he sounds a little bit like Sasuke now. I wonder if a Naruto will come to save him!

How do I say this? I hated Kuroshitsuji; the anime. I watched it in 2007 or so, and then I watched part two in around 2010 or 2009 and I thought it had the dumbest plot. The idea of a demon butler serving this child, was new and interesting and I loved the artwork. However, I hated how nothing made sense in the anime. They showed some flashbacks, but it didn't make any sense. They just ...flashed! and I knew Ciel was in anguish and was looking for the murderers of his parents, but it didn't make any sense. The episode of the Queen was creepy and didn't help one bit. And in the end (spoiler) he should've just died because Sebastian ate his soul...so ...why did he become a demon? (spoiler ends) Plus all the characters like Grell, Lady Red, Lao and Elizabeth were so annoying. The amount of fan girls this thing has was annoying, the name pronunciation was the most annoying "seiaru", and "erizabet", pfft! Nothing made sense; it was all for the fan service, is what I thought. I thought this anime is hinting at some perverted pedophilia yaoi fan service just like "Loveless" was doing and I don't like it! The ending was the most confusing, or at least that's what I remember! It was years ago after all.

Season two made no sense, why was ciel even alive, and why was sebastian still chasing after him? ._. and that poor little blondie..I think I watched season two for the abused blondie...NO! back to the point.

I never even considered reading the manga, especially after I watched such a horrible anime version of it....until I was searching for "manga slave" (yes, I'm weird) and came across this picture:

Ciel's slave mark revealed

That picture took my breath away. Someone trying desperately to hide a slave mark, but he is forced to show it. oooh, how I longed to see the reactions that followed after and I was not disappointed when I did. I was confused to know that that person was in fact Ciel Phantomhive, and that there seems to be this Freckles person tugging at his shirt. "Wait, when was ciel a slave?" I thought. And "I don't recall a Freckles". That's why I started reading the manga. I loved how twisted everything is, how afraid Ciel is, and how uncaring Sebastian really is. I also really loved Sebastian's perspective of the events. "...but he would wake up every night, regardless of the racket. Haunted by nightmares, he would wake up screaming."

Petrified Ciel

The manga is amazing. It makes perfect sense, and every once in a while it tugs you back to that wretched feeling of guilty pleasure at the sight of a small suffering Ciel in one of his flashbacks. And what was even better, is that it's all PTSD that he is suffering currently that makes it all the more beautiful. The way Ciel clings to his blanket, like a child refusing anything but sweetened milk, as opposing to his composed elegant self. AUGH! It makes me want to read more.

but alas, I've hit the stump. I finished reading chapter 91 and they update on a monthly basis. How depressing.

I've even gotten a tad bit obsessed to the point that I've saved a picture of him as a screen saver and doodled it in less than 10 minutes:

..Later...:

Ciel Sketch #2

A better sketch of Ciel, however, he still doesn't look quite right. He needs to look thinner. This round face makes him look even younger.

I can't wait to see where this will go..
"How beautiful and foolish..." ciel is... By far, my favorite anti-hero.